Its no hoax thats for sure, and it worked before so it should work now. I havent checked in a while so I will check now. He has since been moved back to the 265.
I'd stop offering shad and goldfish since they're high in thiaminase. You can vary its diet instead with earthworms, crayfish, shelled mussels and shelled clams.
Hahaha, nice john! We can use him to jump my car!